Kevin Cash has spent six years answering for pulling Blake Snell too early in the 2020 World Series. On Monday night he got the opposite question.
The Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field, in front of 35,361. Cleveland leads the series 1-0.
The Decision
Drew Rasmussen was at 90 pitches through six innings. He had allowed eight hits and two runs with seven strikeouts and no walks, and he had just given up a 381-foot leadoff home run to Chase DeLauter in the sixth that cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 2-1.
Cash sent him back out for the seventh.
Patrick Bailey hit the first pitch 436 feet. Game tied, 2-2.
Then It Got Worse
In the eighth, DeLauter doubled and Nathaniel Lowe singled home two off Ian Seymour to make it 4-2. Cedric Mullins answered with a solo home run for Tampa Bay, and for about half an inning the Rays were within one.
Cleveland scored three in the ninth. A balk and a wild pitch moved runners into scoring position, and Jo Adell doubled in two after Junior Caminero left third base to cover second.
Cash’s postgame comments addressed the ninth, not the seventh. On the Adell double, he said he “totally understand how it seemed like the perfect play for the Guardians.” On the loss generally: “It’s been a while since we lost, so I think that’s a good thing.”
No quote defending the Rasmussen decision has surfaced. Make of that what you will.
The Larger Number Is the Scary One
Tampa Bay pitchers allowed 14 hits in Game 1. In the entire three-game ALDS sweep of the Yankees, they allowed 12.
Jose Ramirez went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. DeLauter was 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs, a triple shy of the cycle. Bailey finished 2-for-4 with the game-tying homer.
Cleveland’s bullpen gave up two hits after starter Foster Griffin left, and Griffin himself gave the Guardians four innings of two-run ball. Daniel Espino struck out three in a perfect inning. Hunter Gaddis got the win, Tyler Wells the loss.
Nobody Expected Cleveland to Be Here
The Guardians went 85-77, the weakest record of any AL playoff team. They trailed the White Sox 0-2 in the ALDS and won three straight, closing it with a Game 5 shutout in which Gavin Williams threw 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out 12.
The Rays won 98 games and swept the Yankees. They were the better team on paper by a wide margin, and they just lost a home game they led after six innings.
One note on Bailey, since it will confuse anyone working from memory: he catches for Cleveland now. The Giants traded him to the Guardians on May 9.
What Happens Next
Game 2 is Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field. Cleveland sends Parker Messick, a 25-year-old left-hander from Plant City, Florida, who made two ALDS starts against the White Sox and allowed two runs in each without reaching five innings.
Tampa Bay counters with Freddy Peralta, the 30-year-old two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in August. His first Rays postseason start went 4.2 innings and one run, his seventh consecutive start allowing no more than one earned run.
Cash will have a shorter leash tonight. He has to.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.